Simon Callow is The Rebel in new Gold scripted comedy

Thursday 14th January 2016

UKTV's flagship comedy channel Gold today announced a brand new scripted comedy to its growing slate of originals.

Actor Simon Callow is cast in The Rebel (3x30") a series inspired by Andrew Birch's long-running cartoon strip in Oldie Magazine. The Rebel is produced by Retort, the FremantleMedia UK label specialising in scripted comedy, and stars Simon Callow (Shakespeare in Love, Four Weddings and a Funeral) as leading man and rebel Henry Palmer.

Simon Callow said

The Rebel is a wildly funny, edgy and sometimes rather searing new sitcom which could hardly be more now. Henry is very very angry, and he has much to be angry about i.e. everything in the world around him. He sees himself as a fearless exposer of cant and folly. Others sometimes have a different view of him. It's a part I can relate to very very easily."

The Rebel is Henry Palmer, a near 70-year-old who looks every bit the respectable, fine, upstanding Brighton resident. Except that underneath it all he's not. For 50 years he's been putting his youthful past behind him; or perhaps more accurately, brushing it under the floral patterned carpet. In the Sixties he was a Mod, a regular visitor to Brighton on his mirrored up Vespa scooter, dressed in a Parka with a bulls-eye on the back, ready for a rumble with the Rockers on their motorbikes. Recently bereaved by the loss of his long-suffering wife, Henry shares this adjustment with his slightly impossible daughter, Cath and her utterly ineffectual husband, Jeremy. The Rebel in Henry never really went away. It was just brewing...

Adapted from his own cartoon strip series The Rebel, Private Eye cartoonist Andrew Birch, has created an anarchic, anti-establishment pensioner on steroids for the 21st Century.

UKTV's director of commissioning Richard Watsham, and general manager for Gold Steve North ordered the three-part series for the channel. The Rebel will be directed and produced by Vadim Jean (Leon the Pig Farmer, The Hogfather, The Color of Magic). Jon Rolph, Retort managing director, is executive producer, with senior commissioning editor Simon Lupton executive producing for UKTV.

Simon Lupton, Senior Commissioning Editor said

We are very excited to be working with Andrew and Retort on The Rebel, and are really looking forward to bringing such an irrepressible character to life. Henry is going to demonstrate that young people don't have a monopoly on anarchy, and I suspect he'll ultimately bring out the rebel in us all. The marriage of an actor of the extraordinary calibre of Simon Callow, to a character with so much authenticity, heart and energy makes for an incredibly enticing addition to our original shows on Gold.

Henry might be talking about his generation, but he's refusing to fade away - Andrew Birch has created an everyday hero, and one we all should want to be when we grow up. We can't wait for the brilliant Simon Callow to bring to our screens Henry's tireless rebellion against the petty, the lazy, the small-minded and the stupid things that incite us all to take a stand.

Steve North, general manager for Gold said

Gold is the home to some of comedy's greatest characters who kick-back against society - they are the grown-up archetypal naughty child and it is enormous fun to watch - from Del Boy and Victor Mildrew through to Blackadder and Monty Python. I'm excited that we are making The Rebel and to have Simon Callow on board to play Henry, who will be bringing warmth and charm to character I already can't wait to see.

Gold continues to attract top comedy names to the channel for its original commissions, including John Hannah, Jo Joyner, Sarah Alexander (Marley's Ghosts), Robert Lindsay and Maureen Lipman (Bull) with the shows performing strongly, pulling in audiences upwards of 300k individuals per episode.

The Rebel launches on Gold later this year and joins the line up of original scripted comedies set to launch on the channel, including Comic Strip Presents...The Red Top starring Russell Tovey and Maxine Peake, and Do Not Disturb starring Catherine Tate and Sian Gibson.

Notes to Editors:

Tamsyn Zietsman - Head of Consumer and Corporate Comms: Tamsyn.Zietsman@fremantlemediauk.com

About Gold

Sky 110, Virgin 126, BT and TalkTalk 408. On demand on Sky, Virgin and Now TV

Dedicated to celebrating the best of British comedy, Gold is the nation's favourite comedy channel.
Much-loved comedy series such as Only Fools and Horses, The Vicar of Dibley and Outnumbered sit alongside successful commissions including Porridge: Inside Out, You, Me & Them, and the live broadcast of the final ever performance of the Monty Python Live (mostly): One Down Five to Go stage show which became the highest rating programme in Gold's history earlier this year.

The perfect tonic to make you laugh whatever the time of day, Gold shows universally funny content that everyone can enjoy.

About Retort

Retort is the FremantleMedia UK label specialising in scripted comedy, formed in January 2012 from the Scripted Comedy department of talkbackThames. Retort productions include: The IT Crowd Special (Channel 4), Birds of a Feather (ITV), BAFTA nominated Count Arthur Strong (BBC One), PhoneShop (E4) and most recently, Chewing Gum (E4).

Retort is the latest incarnation of a company that has produced some of the best and most popular sitcoms and sketch comedy of the last forty years, including ground-breaking and award-winning shows such as Brass Eye (Channel 4), Green Wing (Channel 4), I'm Alan Partridge (BBC Two), Da Ali G Show (Channel 4) and many more.

About UKTV

UKTV is the multi-award winning media company that accounts for 9.32% of the commercial ad market.

UKTV's eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, Watch, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food - include the most popular non-PSB channel in the UK and account for 9% of the British commercial TV market. The company's most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £283m and EBITDA of £74.1m. It invested £123m in programming and related launches last year, and is becoming an increasingly significant investor in UK creativity.

UKTV has a truly innovative model, curating brand-defining commissions, high-profile acquisitions and the very best of BBC, alongside programmes originally shown on ITV and Channel 4. The network embraces technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories.
Now celebrating its 22nd year at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the only British television broadcaster to be recognised by Best Companies.